The main theme of this book is the social dimension of the circular economy (CE). This book's objective is to provide a foundation for the discussion of social aspects of CE that also allows the integration of CE with the UN SDGs. The circular economy is increasingly becoming the consensual pathway for a transition towards sustainable production and consumption that balances the economic and ecological pillars of sustainable development. However, researchers have noted that the social dimension of sustainable development is noticeable missing or, at best, weakly developed in CE ideas and frameworks (Sehnem et al., 2019). The main argument of this book is that CE research and practice needs to embrace its social impacts, not only in terms of understanding and avoiding negative social impacts but also in terms of exploring the potential that CE models have for addressing social challenges.

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Lucila M. de Souza Campos is an associate professor at the Department of Production Engineering, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, where she is currently responsible for the LGAA (Laboratório de Gestão e Avaliação Ambiental (Laboratory of Environmental Management and Evaluation)). She is a Bachelor's in Production Engineering (UFSCar) and also a Master's and PhD in Production Engineering (UFSC). She has been visiting professor at Royal Holloway University of London (UK), in the sustainability area (2015-2016). She has been a permanent professor of the Graduate Program in Production Engineering (PPGEP/UFSC) since 2010. She was the coordinator of PPGEP in the mandates 2013-2015 and 2017-2019. She is also the head of the Department of Production Engineering (2021-2022). She teaches and researches about Production Engineering, with an emphasis on operations management, environmental management, and sustainability. Her main research focuses are on environmental and social sustainability and circular economy. She has published more than 120 peer-reviewed outputs on related topics, including 3 edited books and 14 chapters book. Before her academic career, she worked as an Environment, Health and Safety Manager and in Environmental Management in companies in Brazil.

Diego Vázquez-Brust is a professor in Global Business Sustainability and Strategy and Sustainability Champion at the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth, where he is currently organizing a Centre for Equitable Sustainability. Previously, he was director of the Centre for Research into Sustainability (CRIS) at Royal Holloway and senior researcher/research manager in the ESRC Center for Business Research, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University. He has been visiting professor at the University of Almeria (Spain), University of Sao Paulo and Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), KEDGE Business School (France), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Ghana) and Saxion University (Netherlands). His research focuses on environmental and social sustainability and the impact of business activities in society. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed outputs in related topics, including four edited books and a textbook, and has been a coordinator of the Greening of Industry Network since 2008. Before his academic career, he worked for the Inter-American Development Bank and the Ministry of Public Works in Argentina.